Manchester is TOPS

Following the success of two London-based TOPS shows, Outstanding Branding held their first ever regional end-user show in Manchester.

Having delivered such well received shows in the South, the pressure was really on to provide a top quality show with high visitor numbers and a good number of leads for the 32 suppliers who supported the show. 

With over 60 professional marketeers attending over the three sessions on the day, and over 150 leads generated for the suppliers, Sales Director Andy Thorne feels he has delivered on his objectives. 

'Putting on a show to match the success of the previous TOPS shows at the Tower of London was always going to be a challenge, particularly in a region we don't currently have the same level of exposure as we do in the South. However, with the support of the suppliers, our great team, a fantastic venue in MediaCity, and three great guest speakers, we achieved the number of quality visitors and leads we wanted.'

The guest speakers were very well received by the audience – BPMA’s Gordon Glenister, talk on making the most of promotional merchandise was well attended and several visitors requested copies of the presentation to share with colleagues.

Justin Blackhurst, Global CEO of Digital Next delivered a hugely popular talk on the subject of How to Get to the Top of Google and Stay There - which was obviously of great interest to an audience of marketers.

Finally, David Ross and Mike Herbert of Brickhouse Productions gave a taste of the future in his talk on 360 video, with several visitors staying all day to make sure they caught the talk first hand. 

All the presentations were streamed via Facebook Live, with the talks also now uploaded to YouTube for anyone who couldn't attend to watch. 

Suppliers and visitors alike were quick to give their positive feedback with several suppliers calling it the best end user show they've attended. Clients commented on the great venue, and how exciting it was to be able to touch and feel a whole range of products whilst getting information and ideas from the expert suppliers. One visitor described it as 'hugely inspirational' - another objective of the show achieved.

‘As always, we have to thank our fabulous supply chain for their professionalism and support on the day’, commented Sarah Penn, Managing Director of Outstanding Branding.  ‘We hope they all enjoyed The Outstanding Supplier Supper (TOSS) that we held for them at Café Football the night before the show – I’m constantly amazed at how hard our industry can party and still put on a great show in the morning!’.

TOPS will return to London in 2017.

We would like to thank Outstanding Branding for another insight into the success of their company. For more information on their promotional merchandise and the complete range of products, please follow the link.